I'm "non native" but I live on this rez. (Long story ptsd kickin my ass, I was falling thru the cracks, was surviving out in nature, friend opened his home to me, but the hard road makes the warrior. I'm a female, and no I'm not showing u my tits.)
Some of the natives can't cope and they get drunk and pass out in sub zero temps and freeze to death. They call them "Popsicles". I'm not making it up. Life is hard here. Food is extremely expensive somehow and there's hardly anything to choose from..and it's mostly all junk food. There is no opportunity and no jobs because there's nothing out here..no restaurants, movie theaters, shops.. nothing.. my town has just gas station, bank, post office, grocery store, fire dept, court house,trailers where people live n that's it. There's starving dogs everywhere, severe alcoholism, neglected children and bitter people in despair. It's def not Dances With Wolves. They also don't like it when white people claim to be native. They feel like whites took everything of theirs and now want to take their culture too (Stupid bitch Elizabeth Warren…)
Anyway, this is our local paper and this was on the front page.
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According to Human Trafficking Search, “Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery, in which human beings are controlled and exploited for profit. Perpetrators use force, fraud, or coercion to manipulate and establish control over individuals.”
And it is happening on Cheyenne River. Since becoming the Sacred Heart Center Coordinator and Sexual Assault Advocate last year, Jessica Ashley has worked with three victims of human trafficking.
History of SHC
The Sacred Heart Center began in 1982, providing a soup kitchen, second-hand clothing, and offering shelter for battered women and children. Since then, their services expanded to individual and family counseling, emergency shelters for domestic violence victims, and providing sexual assault and advocacy services.
In October, the center broke ground for a new $3.5 million, 10,523 square-foot family safe shelter in Eagle Butte.
“We’ve not only stepped up training, we are working on getting more grants to do more awareness projects. We also plan to do outreach at schools, especially at Takini where the pipeline is going to be so nearby,” Ashley said.
Economic vulnerability and victimization
Poverty and human trafficking go hand-in-hand, and often, perpetrators target areas with high poverty rates. And on Cheyenne River, the poverty rate is shocking. According to the Tribal Ventures Voices Report, the median income for families is $18,156, and after annual expenses, families are left with $4,101 per year of discretionary income.
(Those numbers sound high to me though from what I see here on the rez.)
“Because we live in an area with many families living poverty, human trafficking is so easy. Trafficking is tradingfor goods and favors, than it is more for money. It’s very prevalent here on the reservation,” Ashley said.
A 2017 report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, corroborated Ashley’s concerns.
“Individuals with limited economic resources—minors and individuals with limited educational opportunities, work opportunities, or family support—are also at a heightened risk of trafficking,” the statement said.
Human trafficking: unnoticed and unreported
Many victims do not know that they were experiencing trafficking, and more alarming, is that the perpetrators are often someone that victim knows and trusts.
“In most cases, the victims don’t know that they are being trafficked until they learn what human trafficking is. And violence goes hand-in-hand with it. There is emotional and physical abuse. The victims can become submissive, confused and disconnected from their family and friends. They are controlled by the perpetrators, who will do anything to have power over the victims,” Ashley said.
This control includes exploitation of alcohol dependency and addiction to drugs and opioids. The escalation of meth use has reached epidemic levels, and in response, some tribal nations such as Oglala and Standing Rock have declared states of emergency.
“Within human trafficking there is sex trafficking and many addicts trade favors for drugs and alcohol. The influx of the meth use on the reservation has increased human trafficking,” Ashley said.
Moar: https://www.westrivereagle.com/articles/human-trafficking-here-and-now-on-cheyenne-river/